We have been having a relaxing time in the Phillipines, but in all honesty have not been the dilligent bakpackers we were earlier in the trip. We spent 4 days in Bacolod City on the island Negros. Spending most of our time eating, researching, sleeping, and enjoying Phillipino smoothies! We opted not to go on any tours, hoping to save some money. In our defense, the Phillipines isn't the most backpacker frendly country. The people are very kind, but manuvering between the islands can be expensive and challenging. But for the backpacker who seeks not seeing any other backpacker's this is the perfect place--we were the only non-native tourists in all of Bacolod. To the point where the locals started to recognize us and say "hello!" like we knew who they were.
Sam and I have taken a liking to how "green" the Phillipines are, and wanted to share.
(a used cell phone/battery/charger power plug, recycle drop box in a mall... What a good idea!)
Pro-Green Propaganda. Lining the highways are "pro-green" sings. One of which read "Be a savior of Mother Earth, plant more trees" other signs reminded litterer's of the fines associated with trash dumping. These signs were printed on wood, painted white, with hand painted print (meaning it didn't look like these were mass produced and shipped from China).
Clean water. About 90%of the rivers we passed were immaculately clean--no trash. This did vary from place to place, but we were happy to see significantlly smaller amounts of litter and trash floating around. Also, Sam and I have been drinking tap water here (yeah!).
Reuse/recycle. This is a big theme throught all of Asia that we have noticed. TV repair shops, reused catalic converters, older cars and vans (some converted into bigger vehicles to accomodate more people), tailors and cobblers on nearly every corner, the list goes on. Asia is a culture of "one mans trash is anothers treasure". Nothing becomes trash until it is truly beaten to death. To our suprise, TV's cost nearly double what they cost in the US. Thus promoting TV repair over TV replacement.
Carpool. An American past-time. Very few cars lined the roads of this island. Instead busses ran the main road every half hour/hour--and it was ALWAYS jam-packed full.
Supermarket bags. This is changing in the States, but quite honestly it could change more. Recycled boxes from products shipped into the store double as grocery bags (like what they do at Costco). A few of the things Sam and I would like to see in the states; BPA free bags (biodegrateable bags), that cost .10 each (will encourage the customer to remember their own shopping bags).
Glass coke bottles. I know glass coke bottles has equal pros and cons. But overall we think glass coke bottles are better than plastic (especially after learning about garbage island in the Pacific ocean--please google this!). Asia almost only has glass coke bottles, which tastes better anyway.
Cock-a-doodle-doo. Farm life is a reality. And in Asia the people know where they get their food from, because chickens roam almost every street. Eating local is a reality here. Again, we realize that there are pros and cons to urban farm life (chickens eating plastic isn't good for the ultimate consumer). But when you think about all of the crap pumped into the chicken in the states anyway, I'd rather risk having my own chicken in my back yard. It's cheaper, less fossil fuels are used in it's delivery, and there is a direct relationship between food and the consumer.
Okay, so Asia isnt perfect--there are some pitfalls to the system. Allocating propper trash removal and recycling is a major change that needs to occur. And while driving old cars and motor bikes is a form of recycling--motor bikes don't filter the CO2 (dirtier polltion) and older vehicles also contribute to poor air quality. We also noticed individual packaging gaining steam.
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